How Much Does it Cost to Build a Fantasy Sports App?

“The cost to develop a fantasy sports app usually falls in the range between $25,000 – $150,000, depending on various factors like app complexity, essential features, mobile platform, and more.” 💰

The fantasy sports apps are becoming very popular nowadays. And the reason behind it is the real-world gaming experiences delivered by the apps, along with amazing opportunities to win money rewards. The immensely increasing popularity is prompting several organizations to step into the fantasy sports app industry.

However, one question constantly striking through the minds of fantasy sports app aspirants is – How much does it cost to build a fantasy sports app? And this question is obvious to trigger first, as our budget is the primary thing we would decide before starting the fantasy app development planning.

This blog will give you detailed insights about the cost needed to develop a fantasy sports app, the several factors affecting the cost, and the essential features.

The Cost to Develop a Fantasy Sports App

When considering developing a fantasy sports app, the very first question that comes to our mind is regarding the cost. Usually, the average cost to build a fantasy app falls in the range of $25,000 – $150,000, depending on different factors like app complexity, features and functionalities, tech stack, and more. Here’s the complete cost breakdown of fantasy sports app development depending on the major factors.

Basic App Development

A fantasy sports app with basic features and functionalities like user registration, contests, and team selection would usually range from $25,000 to $40,000, which is suitable for a small user base.

Mid-Level App Development

A mid-level fantasy sports app involves complex features like real-time notifications, leaderboards, and multiple payment options, whose development cost usually falls between $40,000 to $80,000.

Advanced App Development

A fantasy sports app with high-end functionalities like AI-powered suggestions, multi-sport support, complex admin tools, and real-time data integration will need around $100,000 to $150,000 for development.

These prices are mere estimations. To get the exact idea about the fantasy sports app development cost, consulting with an experienced mobile app development company can be helpful.

Major Factors Affecting the Fantasy Sports App Development Cost

The cost of building a fantasy sports app is influenced by numerous factors like app complexity, features, mobile platform, and more. Let’s have detailed insights about every major factor affecting the development cost of a fantasy sports app.

Type of App Platform (iOS/Android)

Your choice of app platform significantly affects its overall cost. Native app development, which involves developing the app for either the iOS or Android platform, is known for delivering an engaging user experience and high performance. 

However, native app development is time-consuming and a bit costly as it involves using separate codebases for each platform. 

Cross-platform, on the contrary, uses a single codebase for both platforms, which allows you to build your fantasy sports app faster with high-end features and user experience while incurring less cost. However, you should choose the app platform based on your market goals and budget.

Features and Functionalities

App features are another important factor that affects the development cost to build a fantasy sports app. For instance, a fantasy sports app with basic functionalities like scoring and basic team creation will need around $5,000 to $ $10,000. 

While for embedding advanced features like AI-powered analytics and real-time chat applications will cost around $10,000 to $20,000. So, every feature needs a design interface, user testing, and backend logic, which considerably adds to the overall cost.

TechStack

Technologies act as the main ingredient for your fantasy app, which brings the essential features and functionalities to life. 

There are numerous app development technologies out of which AR/VR, AI, and IoT are most commonly used for fantasy sports app development. Besides, the programming language you use to build your fantasy sports app also affects the overall development cost.

App Maintenance

Once designed and launched, your fantasy app needs regular maintenance to keep running smoothly. App maintenance process involves regular update checks, server maintenance, and feature upgrades. 

Performing regular maintenance allows your fantasy app to stay up-to-date and deliver smooth performance. However, most people neglect the maintenance cost while budgeting for the fantasy app development. 

But, maintenance is an important aspect of a fantasy app, and so its cost should be taken into consideration while estimating the cost to build your fantasy sports app.

Location of Mobile App Developers

The geographical location of your hired app development partner also significantly affects the fantasy app development cost. 

For instance, hiring mobile app developers in the US or UK will cost around $100-$200/hr, while hiring mobile app developers in India will cost in the range between $25 to $70/hr. 

So, it becomes essential for you to consider the location of your app developers during cost estimation for fantasy app development.

Most Essential Features to Include in Your Fantasy Sports App

Features and functionalities work as the essential engine for your fantasy app, needed to engage and attract users to your app. Although you would find a long list of features for a fantasy sports app, here’s the breakdown of the most essential features that you can’t miss to embed in your fantasy sports app.

User-Specific Features

1. User Registration and Profile Management

This is the most common feature that you would find in every fantasy sports app. Using this, users can create their accounts using a mobile number, email, or social media integration. 

Moreover, they can manage and update their profiles later using the profile management section. The profile management feature also becomes useful for users to check their reward points, transaction history, and more.

2. Team Selection

For any fantasy sports app, this feature can be considered to be the heart. Here, users can create their fantasy team by choosing real-world players within the given budget. 

To help users make smart decisions, the team selection interface offers filters and statistics.

3. Real-Time Notifications and Reminders

Push notifications and reminders become a perfect way to send real-time updates to app users about upcoming matches, entry deadlines, and related promotions. 

This feature ensures your fantasy app continues to stay in the users’ minds forever.

4. Contest Search and Joining

This feature allows users to search for the available contests, both paid and free. The different contest options are showcased in an organized way, sorted by entry fees and match type, so users can easily get complete information about rules and rewards clearly.

5. Scores and Ranking Leaderboards

The leaderboards help users in tracking scores, player points, and rankings in real time once the game begins. Real-time score updates on fantasy sports apps help in keeping players engaged for a long time.

Admin-Specific Features

1. Centralized Dashboard

An admin needs to keep a bird’s eye on the app performance to ensure smooth performance and delivery. And centralized admin dashboards help in achieving it effectively. This dashboard provides all the detailed insights about active app users, overall revenue, ongoing and upcoming matches, and app performance.

2. App User Management

This feature offers a unified way for admins to manage all users from a single location. It also allows the admin to perform necessary actions like viewing the user profile, verifying and banning users anytime. 

3. Transaction Management

Here, the admin can perform all payment-related activities like withdrawal verification, deposit approvals, and refund management. This eventually allows the admin to manage all the payments efficiently and effectively.

4. Contest Management

The fantasy app admin needs to update contests regularly according to the real-time matches to allow the app to stay updated. Using contest management, admins can create new contests, set rules, and also set pricing pools all from a single dashboard.

5. Real-Time App Analytics

The AI-powered analytics allow admins to generate detailed reports on user activity, conversion rates, financial summaries, and contest engagement to find the gaps and make important strategies to refine those gaps.

So, these are the features that you should definitely implement in your fantasy sports app. However, this list does not stop here. As the mobile app technology continues to evolve every day, the list of essential features for fantasy sports app development also gets advanced with time.

How to Monetize Your Fantasy Sports App

Fantasy apps have become very popular today because of the fun-filled contests provided by them. However, mere user engagement and a high user base are not enough to make your fantasy app a money powerhouse for your business. You need to make smart strategies to monetize your app. To help you out, we have enlisted here the 5 common strategies for your fantasy sports app monetization.

1. Contest Fees

Some organizations conduct paid contests along with free contests in which they charge a specific amount of entry fee for participation. This tactic is the oldest yet most effective monetization strategy for fantasy sports apps. Because a small percentage of each entry fee, i.e. usually 10-20% is retained by the app platform, while the remaining amount is added to the winning amount.

2. App Subscriptions

Due to the increased popularity of fantasy apps, most users prefer to buy subscriptions to use the app regularly. And the subscription strategy helps businesses in not only binding users for the long term but also in monetizing the app through monthly and annual plans.

3. Sponsorships and Partnerships

Not just by conducting sports contests, but you can monetize your fantasy app through brand partnerships and sponsorships. As you are having a fantasy app for sports, you will need to partner with sports brands or merchandise sellers and sell their products in your app. On every product sale, you will earn affiliate commissions, which will add to the overall app revenue.

4. In-App Purchases

App users who are the most interested in fantasy sports contests are likely to make extra and hard efforts to strengthen their winning chances. This actually becomes a monetization strategy for you. By offering additional team slots, latest player stats, and lineup boosters, you can easily boost the average revenue per user, thus effectively boosting the overall app ROI.

5. Advertising

Today, every business is striving hard to enhance its presence digitally. You can easily partner with such businesses and place their banner ads or video ads in your app, which will subsequently boost your fantasy sports app monetization.

The Leading Fantasy Sports Apps and Their Development Cost Estimations

Learning from real-time leaders in the market helps in achieving successful results. And when you are planning to have a fantasy sports app, it becomes essential to have detailed insights into similar but popular apps to have a perfect idea about the cost to develop a fantasy sports app.

While every fantasy app listed here is unique in its features, the overall cost to build a fantasy app largely depends on the complexity of its features.

So, let’s have a look at the most renowned fantasy sports apps along with their amazing features to get a perfect idea of the cost to build a fantasy sports app.

1. DraftKings

Just like its name, DraftKings is considered to be the king in the world of fantasy sports apps. This is because of the amazing features embedded in it. The app involves an intuitive user interface and provides detailed analytics to users through which it becomes a suitable option for beginner-level users.

The App’s Essential Features:

• Multiple sports options like golf, MMA, and baseball
• Custom contest creation options
• Live scoring and ranking leaderboards
• Secure payment withdrawals through PayPal

Cost Estimation to Build an App Like DraftKings – $120,000 to $150,000+

2. ESPN Fantasy

When it comes to fantasy sports apps, ESPN Fantasy becomes the second most popular and loved fantasy sports app, which is powered and launched by none other than ESPN’s sports media. The app has achieved such a huge fanbase and continues to become users’ favourite because of its amazing editorial content and personalized game insights for every user, which enhances the chances of winning strategically.

The App’s Noteworthy Features:

• Integration with ESPN media (articles, updates, videos, etc)
• Customizable private leagues available with rule settings
• Detailed insights about stats and trading
• In-depth waiver and player proposal information systems

Estimated Cost to Build a Fantasy Sports App Like ESPN Fantasy – $90,000 to $120,000

3. FanDuel

FanDuel is another fantasy sports app known for its engaging interface and fast-paced gameplay. Not just for professional and mid-level players, but the app provides a wide range of beginner-level contests, which makes it a go-to option for new fantasy players to start their game.

The App’s Noteworthy Features:

• Fantasy simulator tools
• Loyalty programs and promo codes
• Beginner-only and expert-specific copntests
• Powerful mobile-optimized performance

The Estimated Cost to Develop a Fantasy Sports App Like FanDuel – $100,000 to $130,000

Why Choose Technocrats Horizons for Fantasy Sports App Development

Planning to mark your presence in the fantasy sports app industry? If yes, then Technocrats Horizons becomes your reliable partner. With 13+ years of expertise, we have deeply understood the challenges and complexities involved in fantasy sports app development, especially when it’s a startup or an SMB. 

Our detailed understanding and decade-long expertise allow us to deliver fantasy sports apps that successfully excel in the digital world through amazing features like real-time dashboards, mobile-optimized design, secure payment gateways, and centralized admin dashboard. 

In this competitive world, we allow businesses to launch their fantasy sports apps faster while perfectly aligning with their vision through our agile development approach. Besides, our transparent pricing and communication and long-term support in launching and maintenance make us your go-to development partner for your fantasy sports app in an affordable way.

Conclusion

The cost to develop a fantasy sports app varies depending on several factors like platform type, tech stack, features, app maintenance cost, and location of mobile app developers.

A fantasy sports app with basic features and functionalities will cost less, while an app with advanced features will need a higher cost for development.

Besides, the platform selection between Android and iOS also impacts the overall cost to build a fantasy sports app. So, you should consider all the major factors while estimating the cost for fantasy sports app development.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to build a fantasy sports app?

The time frame to develop a fantasy sports app widely depends on the app’s complexity. For instance, a fantasy app with basic features like user registration and push notifications will need around 3-6 months for development, while an app with complex features and functionalities like personalized insights and AI-powered data analytics will take around 9-12 months for development.

What is the cost to develop a fantasy sports app?

The cost to build a fantasy sports app usually depends on various factors like platform selection, design complexity, and features and functionalities. In general, the cost to develop a fantasy sports app falls between $25,000 to $150,000.

Does your mobile app development company support post-launch support?

Yes. Our app development company is very well aware of the intricacies involved in developing a fantasy sports app. That’s why we offer long-term support in every development stage, from design and development to launching and maintenance, so your app can deliver smooth performance always.